tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post1622296754087464199..comments2024-03-28T09:47:11.647-04:00Comments on Rex Parker Does the NYT Crossword Puzzle: Sausage king Froman in Ferris Bueller's Day Off / FRI 1-11-13 / Tennyson title lady / Key discovery of 1799 / College town on Stillwater River / Mr Clue-like board game / Feather sourceRex Parkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16145707733877505087noreply@blogger.comBlogger86125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-68264665696074131352013-02-18T09:38:53.524-05:002013-02-18T09:38:53.524-05:00@ loren muse smith 8:27 AM - My favorite punny bus...@ loren muse smith 8:27 AM - My favorite punny business name (seen referenced somewhere on the Web) was an English waterproofing biz using the name "Titus Aduxass".Anonyratnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-85142500958351636182013-02-17T12:05:26.703-05:002013-02-17T12:05:26.703-05:00Started with AM I RIGHT off the bat, then THE SITU...Started with AM I RIGHT off the bat, then THE SITUATION and YESSIREE off the very same bat like some sort of Hunter Pence magic liner. Breezed through the entire grid until crashing into the wall in the NE, where my iDLE mind got my DiNDER up. Probably would have been ABLE to solve had I kept after it, but I got someplace I gotta be.<br /><br />@ACME...tear to my eye every time I watch old Paul George & Ringo sing that one on the Anthology DVD. (John would've rolled his eyes and called it shite, of course)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-85869343334705155852013-02-15T16:11:47.741-05:002013-02-15T16:11:47.741-05:00TCBY is an acronym for "The Country's Bes...TCBY is an acronym for "The Country's Best Yogurt." The country, I think, is the USA. I only knew it because I happened to see a store sign once in Williamsport, PA.Spacecraftnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-32089897275854413482013-02-15T16:06:51.316-05:002013-02-15T16:06:51.316-05:00PP and I were halfway through the clues with the g...PP and I were halfway through the clues with the grid still mostly blank, when we gained traction in the middle of the puzzle and the bottom half fell quickly (for us). When we got back to the top part we discovered that some of the answers we had rejected were right and some of the answers we had put in were wrong but eventually it all came together. I'm glad THESITUATION was explained her because neither of us understood that answer.<br /><br />Nice to see a shout-out to my alma mater, UM ORONO - the next time I visit there should be to see my younger son receive his degree.Dirigonzohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03903353503511480168noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-36988013035318405762013-02-15T14:27:37.105-05:002013-02-15T14:27:37.105-05:00Easy for some, but I simply couldn't do the NW...Easy for some, but I simply couldn't do the NW corner. Wanted Scotties for the pet which gave me "no SIR." And things just didn't get better. Thought the question could be "isitart" which,naturally, didn't fit. NIL didnt fit anything I could think of Began to feel that, as a name, ---SITUATION must be wrong, and just threw in the towel. As for the rest it flowed, though I did have to accept HOUSEMUSIC as something that exists. Glad somebody explained it.DMGrandmanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-47490283701708571892013-02-15T13:25:46.879-05:002013-02-15T13:25:46.879-05:00I don't think I would ever complain that a puz...I don't think I would ever complain that a puzzle is too easy. This one was certainly easier than your average Friday offering, but I found it very fresh, clever, and enjoyable. <br /><br />Like @Spacecraft, the DRUNKDIALED/DANDER cross was my last entry. I've never heard the term DRUNKDIALED, but I once did it; alas, it wasn't well-received...<br /><br />SPLATTER was my first entry, then NIL, which gave me MANXCATS, and then I was off. My only wtf's were THESITUATION (have never watched the show) and TCBY (Canadian,eh). No HOKE in this effort. Really well done.<br /><br /><br />rain forestnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-42741019250491929032013-02-15T11:21:49.846-05:002013-02-15T11:21:49.846-05:00Strange. OFL got DRUNKDIALED "off just the UN...Strange. OFL got DRUNKDIALED "off just the UNK," while the 12 square was the very last one I filled. "Trunk-dialed," I thought, but neither danter ner ranter made sense. If the 9a clue had been "Angry one," I'd have put in RANTER for sure. Eventually decided that DANDER had to be right. DRUNKDIALED? Ne. Vah. Hoidofit.<br /><br />But for that weird expression, and morphing Mr. Appleseed from FOLKtale through FOLKloRe to arrive at last at FOLKHERO, I agree that the rest of this was easy. (OFL: why did you want ELS? The word "elevated"--for which ELS is merely a shortened form, was in the clue. Can't do that, can ya?)<br /><br />I must note, continuing from @anon 12:43's mention of "Ned the Head," that I too thought of him straightaway--and was doubly amused when I saw the expression crossed with STRIPES: another memorable Murray vehicle. Good stuff.Spacecraftnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-5588181040876729562013-01-12T16:10:18.344-05:002013-01-12T16:10:18.344-05:00Yipes, if this was easy, I must not be able to do ...Yipes, if this was easy, I must not be able to do any of Mr. Livengood's hard ones. Took me from Thursday night to late Friday night. All the first half dozen things I filled in were wrong, stopping all crosses. I got nowhere until I enlisted the aid of Mr. Happy Pencil to show me my errors. Basically ... start over. I liked some of the answers, once I got them, like DICES and CNOTE (@Evan, CrOTE sounds like something it would be painful to have cut off). But I agree with @Rex, HOKE is pure bunkum. And I never heard of DRUNK-DIALING. Oh, from Sideways? Saw the movie, forgot the most important line. But even if I had remembered it, having someone I did not want to be involved with call me up while he was drunk, does not sound romantic to me. Creepy, and possibly more than a little scary. Ellen Shttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00473445503706985149noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-85338307370190510072013-01-12T15:50:24.308-05:002013-01-12T15:50:24.308-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.Titahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16368251255494687496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-16207215193003833472013-01-12T15:45:14.700-05:002013-01-12T15:45:14.700-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.Titahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16368251255494687496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-54017247840847127662013-01-12T12:30:39.801-05:002013-01-12T12:30:39.801-05:00Wow - what a gorgeous puzzle! Thanks Ian! I loved ...Wow - what a gorgeous puzzle! Thanks Ian! I loved that Iberia was over the clouds, and soured on was over in love. On top of that, the fur hat crossing the dead tree was amusing. 2 things to feel guilty about, if you are so inclined. Amazing. Cheeriohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04919455386774076690noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-18275066296956032802013-01-12T11:59:50.778-05:002013-01-12T11:59:50.778-05:00Tired of the NYT confusing "trap" with &...Tired of the NYT confusing "trap" with "skeet." Trap shooting uses one target; skeet two. Skeet targets are fired from towers, not traps. May as well confuse cricket with baseball. Hell, they both involve bats and balls, don't they? the daily cannibalhttp://www.thedailycannibal.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-45460835596812549982013-01-12T11:10:54.866-05:002013-01-12T11:10:54.866-05:00What is the romance in a drunk dial? The clue wou...What is the romance in a drunk dial? The clue would have been fine without that word, which really threw me off. Apparently, "drunk dialing" is a idiomatic expression that specifically references a romantic interest as the subject of the call and not simply dialing when drunk. <br />I really wanted "egg" for timer that was definitely not old. It was too cool to ignore and fit with augurs.pooloniousmonknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-85804343504192187062013-01-12T05:08:40.112-05:002013-01-12T05:08:40.112-05:00DNF, I'm afraid, due to a clog in the W -- I h...DNF, I'm afraid, due to a clog in the W -- I had ARABIANGULF for 24D and then of course nothing else on that side made sense. :(JackLeehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05699812137375247445noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-9907748210284433152013-01-12T00:55:48.122-05:002013-01-12T00:55:48.122-05:00Dang it: guessed wrong at the ARG/ARONO cross.
I...Dang it: guessed wrong at the ARG/ARONO cross. <br /><br />I'm sure ARONO is a piece of crosswordese I should know by now, but ALONO looked no more unlikely.Joseph Bnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-35245646938306694402013-01-12T00:04:37.681-05:002013-01-12T00:04:37.681-05:00@jazzman..."cut the potatoes into 1/2" c...@jazzman..."cut the potatoes into 1/2" cubes..."<br />If you've cut then into cubes, then you've cubed them?<br />Sure...no one has ever seen a recipe that says "cube the potatoes", but hey...it's Friday...Titahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16368251255494687496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-37638713683613802122013-01-11T23:40:54.258-05:002013-01-11T23:40:54.258-05:00Wonderful puzzle! looking forward to the LATimes o...Wonderful puzzle! looking forward to the LATimes one.machttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06794371617847975218noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-43449022216045242132013-01-11T23:12:56.864-05:002013-01-11T23:12:56.864-05:00@jae and retired_chemist: I'm happy to be in t...@jae and retired_chemist: I'm happy to be in the minority on "await," but I don't think I'm being picky. The OED gives "To wait for (a coming event or person)" and "To be in store for, be reserved for" as "the only current senses" for the word. If, for instance, you are awaiting sentencing, you're not looking for it; you're just waiting for it.Michael Leddyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05547732736861224886noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-82798599545275205172013-01-11T22:14:01.962-05:002013-01-11T22:14:01.962-05:00This week's relative difficulty ratings. See m...This week's relative difficulty ratings. See my 8/1/2009 post for an explanation and my 10/15/2012 post for an explanation of a tweak I've made to my method. In a nutshell, the higher the ratio, the higher this week's median solve time is relative to the average for the corresponding day of the week.<br /><br />All solvers (this week's median solve time, average for day of week, ratio, percentile, rating)<br /><br />Mon 7:19, 6:12, 1.18, 98%, Challenging (5th highest ratio of 160 Mondays)<br />Tue 9:58, 8:37, 1.16, 83%, Challenging<br />Wed 7:49, 11:52, 0.66, 1%, Easy (lowest ratio of 159 Wednesdays)<br />Thu 20:13, 17:05, 1.18, 81%, Challenging<br />Fri 16:35, 20:49, 0.80, 14%, Easy<br /><br />Top 100 solvers<br /><br />Mon 4:09, 3:39, 1.14, 94%, Challenging<br />Tue 5:49, 4:57, 1.18, 86%, Challenging<br />Wed 4:37, 6:34, 0.70, 1%, Easy (lowest ratio of 159 Wednesdays)<br />Thu 11:59, 9:34, 1.25, 84%, Challenging<br />Fri 8:54, 11:47, 0.76, 11%, Easysanfranman59https://www.blogger.com/profile/15118732156312301425noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-15312619144686610162013-01-11T22:01:53.702-05:002013-01-11T22:01:53.702-05:00I didn't find this as easy as most of you. Had...I didn't find this as easy as most of you. Had Johnny Appleseed as a forester and the the British Isle pets as scotties for too long. I went through most of this quickly but then got stuck in the northwest. Finally erased scotties, but still stuck with ___situation. Finally googled to come up with exciting "the" and finished.micahaelnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-90303606222874747762013-01-11T20:26:52.056-05:002013-01-11T20:26:52.056-05:00@elle54 I assumed you were asking me??? Have been ...@elle54 I assumed you were asking me??? Have been to Chicago many times since I am originally from St. Louis. E-mail me and we can discuss things.chefbeahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15195945085405126511noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-90166941448869451112013-01-11T20:22:05.379-05:002013-01-11T20:22:05.379-05:00I do know "dices" as a verb in the food-...I do know "dices" as a verb in the food-preparation sense; but the clue "cubes" still confuses me. Can you "cube" food (as well as numbers)? jazzmanchgohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02568707898871466512noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-13685536255262083142013-01-11T19:36:53.675-05:002013-01-11T19:36:53.675-05:00Did you ever visit your roommate's hometown? ...Did you ever visit your roommate's hometown? That's where I live and went to high school. Elle54noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-56788430273706935862013-01-11T19:11:05.693-05:002013-01-11T19:11:05.693-05:00Ditto. DRUNK DIALED alone was worth the price of a...Ditto. DRUNK DIALED alone was worth the price of admission.<br /><br />@Masked and Anonymo8Us - That's modest satanic red rubber duckies. Zhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16181544219511150272noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35115061.post-77974039016417090352013-01-11T18:50:10.667-05:002013-01-11T18:50:10.667-05:00@jazzmanchgo:
I think DICES is meant to be a verb...@jazzmanchgo:<br /><br />I think DICES is meant to be a verb, as in to cut food into small cubes.Evanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15440942981870183719noreply@blogger.com